


Jack and the Joneses

by engagemythrusters



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Friendship, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:27:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27918964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/engagemythrusters/pseuds/engagemythrusters
Summary: Nobody likes an accidental swim in the Cardiff Bay.
Relationships: Ianto Jones & Martha Jones, Jack Harkness & Martha Jones, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 10
Kudos: 72





	Jack and the Joneses

The problem with chasing aliens down a pier was that sometimes, the pier was slippery. And the alien could swim.

With a goading laugh, the Blowfish dove into the bay, and Martha and Ianto attempted to skid to a halt. The attempt clearly failed, as the pair of them slid forward into the water after the alien.

They were in the air for less than a second; Martha could see her own jolt of panic mirrored on Ianto’s face. Then they plunged downward into the icy waters of the bay.

It was murky down there. Murky, dark, cold, wet… all the things Martha wasn’t particularly fond of. Plus, she inhaled some water in her surprise. She clawed upwards at the water, desperate to break the surface. She kicked something hard. Possibly Ianto—she wasn’t sure.

The moment her head cleared the water, she tried to take in a huge gulp of air. However, the water she’d previously sucked in got in the way, and she wound up coughing and spluttering as she tried to clear her lungs for the next breath. Ianto’s head popped up as she managed to wheeze inwards. He blew water out in a plosive exhale, whipping his head violently to clear the hair from his eyes.

“Ianto,” she choked out once she could breathe better. “Ianto…”

“He got away.” Ianto sounded annoyed, his brow creased into a heavy scowl.

“’Course he did—he’s a fish,” she coughed. Her teeth began to chatter, making talking doubly hard. “Can—can we get out… or do you p-plan to g-go after him.”

“I’m not chasing him,” Ianto said.

“Good.”

She pseud-paddled to the dock, Ianto beside her. Then she reached up and heaved herself up. Her heavy clothes and the height of the dock made it twice as hard as it should have been, but after some struggling, she managed to hoist herself over the side. She curled up on herself, laying down on the wooden deck as Ianto came up after her.

“C-christ,” she said. “It’s c-cold.”

“You s-sure? I was f-feeling a bit warm, myself.” He had sat down and drawn his knees into his chest, wrapping himself around them. "You k-kicked m-me,” he accused.

“You were in the w-way of my f-f-feet,” she retorted.

Heavy bootsteps rattled the dock, and she could feel it vibrate her bones, adding onto her shivering. She pushed herself up to see Jack hurrying down towards them.

“It’s slippery!” Ianto called out, just as Martha started to worry that Jack, too, would slide into the waters, taking them back in with him as he slipped.

Jack halted in an instant, then slowly began making his way down the rest of the pier. When he reached them, he stared down with raised eyebrows.

“Fancied a swim, huh?”

Ianto and Martha glared up at him. He blinked, then held up his hands slightly in defence.

“He g-got away,” Ianto repeated.

“I gathered,” Jack said. “You two alright?”

“F-freezing,” Martha said. She sat upright and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to rub some warmth back into her.

“No kidding,” Jack said. He tapped a finger to his ear. “Gwen? No, he escaped. Can you get a fresh set of clothes out for Ianto and Martha? Yeah. And crank up the heating. And get out some towels. No, don’t bring them down here. Just have them ready.”

Shaking his head and smiling to himself, he returned his attention to Ianto and Martha.

“Come on,” he told them, bending down and holding out his hands to the pair of them. “Up you get.”

Martha took his offered hand and let him help her up. Ianto did the same. She immediately huddled closer to Ianto, drawn in like a soggy magnet. He pressed back, possibly without meaning to, and the two of them stood together, shivering miserably.

Jack tilted his head slightly, his lips curled up into a smile.

“You d-don’t have t-to look s-so smug,” Martha said.

“You know,” he said casually, “I once met a traveller who wouldn’t stop dripping water.”

“Is this another one of your b-boyfriends?” she asked.

“No,” Jack said. “She was not. And I think her girlfriend would’ve been very upset if I looked at her the wrong way.”

He put his hands on Martha and Ianto’s shoulders, easing them forward.

“As much as I love a good public nudity,” Jack said, “I don’t think you should strip down out here.”

Ianto and Martha trudged onward down the dock, guided gently by Jack. Martha stumbled a few times, trembling so much that her feet got in her own way. Jack’s steady hand on her shoulder kept her up.

Jack steered them to the edge of the dock, then towards the tourist centre. He opened the door for them, and then pushed the button for the hidden tunnel, and then lead them down to the Hub.

The farther they went underground, the colder it got. Martha’s shivering multiplied, and her skull felt like it was going to rattle out of her head, with the amount her teeth chattered. But when they stepped into the lift, Jack took one look at Martha and Ianto, then reached out to them and wrapped his arms around them.

“That’ll teach you to go for a swim in the middle of winter,” he said cheerily.

Martha watched Ianto glare mightily at him and held back a laugh.

Gwen had a set of clothes ready for them both when they stepped through the cog door. Ianto got another suit, while Martha (who hadn’t stored her clothes in the Hub for her stay) got one of Gwen’s spare outfits. It didn’t fit perfectly, but it was close enough, and outrageously kind of Gwen to offer them up to Martha.

Once they’d changed, Jack had Martha and Ianto sit on the sofa, wrapped in towels. Then he sat between them, still tucking them beneath his arms as Gwen dashed off to make some tea (as Ianto had deemed her tea-making abilities “passable”).

“I had a dream about this once,” Jack said, his hand massaging Martha’s arm gently. “Though, in my dream, the pair of you were a lot hotter and not wearing—”

Ianto cut Jack off with a loud and pointed clearing of his throat. 

“Me and the Joneses,” Jack mused.

Martha peeked across Jack to Ianto. “He’s nuts.”

“Absolutely,” Ianto agreed.

“Hey,” Jack said.

But his hands still rubbed warming and comforting circles on their shoulders. Martha curled in closer to him, still smiling at Ianto over Jack. Ianto mirrored her own smile and position.

Jack’s subsequent beam lit up the room and warmed Martha to the core.

**Author's Note:**

> Literally goes nowhere; does nothing. Just wrote it for some fun! I love Martha so much, and I adore her friendships. I will likely be writing more of her with Team Torchwood in the future.  
> Thank you for reading! Have a lovely (and warm!) day!


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